Boise State to honor 4 players on Senior Night, including culture ‘cornerstone’

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — At least three Boise State men’s basketball players will play their final game inside ExtraMile Arena on Tuesday night.

The Broncos (18-11, 10-8 Mountain West) welcome the San Diego State Aztecs (19-9, 13-5) to the Treasure Valley for the penultimate game of the regular season and final home game on Boise State’s calendar.

Tip-off is at 7 p.m.

As a result, four players will be honored as part of Senior Night celebrations: senior guard Dylan Andrews, senior forward Javan Buchanan, redshirt senior guard RJ Keene and sixth-year forward Dominic Parolin.

Three of those players are guaranteed to be playing in their final collegiate home game, while Keene’s status is still up in the air. Boise State is in the process of appealing for an extra year for Keene, who redshirted his first year and missed his entire redshirt freshman year in 2022-23 through injury — a final year for Keene hinges on whether he’ll be granted a retroactive medical redshirt year.

With that decision still unresolved, Keene will also be honored on Tuesday.

“You get to this time of year, and as crazy as it sounds, it creeps up on you,” Boise State head coach Leon Rice said Monday. “When you’re talking about senior nights … I don’t want to say bye to these guys. The best hours of my life are out on the practice floor with these guys.”

While Tuesday night is sure to be emotional for the team and fans — fewer than 400 tickets were still on sale as of Monday morning — this year may have a slightly different feel than years past.

Aside from Keene, none of the other three players started their careers at Boise State. Andrews is wrapping up his sole year with the Broncos, having arrived from UCLA this past April, while Buchanan (Indiana Wesleyan) and Parolin (Lehigh) have been with the team for just two seasons. Not that their shorter tenures in Boise matter to Rice.

“Whether you came here for eight months or whether you were here for seven years, you’re a Bronco, and you’re one of ours and one of ours for a lifetime,” Rice said.

While Andrews and Parolin have stamped their marks on the team this season, Buchanan may be the one fans will miss the most next year. The 6-foot-7 forward arrived at Boise State after spending two years at the Division II level, and despite battling injuries for long stretches during his time in Boise, has emerged as one of the Broncos’ most valuable players.

He was named the Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year in 2024-25 and has started every game for the Broncos this season. He ranks second on the team in rebounds per game (4.8) and third in points per game (12.2) and steals (18). He’s also ramping up at the right time of the year, having scored in double-digits in his last three games, including 26 points at Fresno State over the weekend.

But most importantly, Rice said that Buchanan made this year’s squad “his team.” “He was coming from a great program and a great culture, and he wanted a place where he could be part of a great culture,” Rice said. “And I said to him, ‘It’s really neat that you were looking for that, and you became the cornerstone of our culture. And so it really became your team in a lot of ways.’ ”

Buchanan, who said on Tuesday that he also could have transferred to Nevada or Texas Tech, said he chose Boise State because he could tell “relationships” were at the forefront of Boise State’s program.

“I’m just trying to align myself with people who do stuff in the same way, and this program I felt like aligned with my values as a person,” Buchanan said. “And I was right.”

San Diego State arrives in Boise as one of three teams still in the hunt for the Mountain West regular-season championship, while the Broncos need a win to remain in the conversation for the 6 seed in the conference tournament. Boise State ends the regular season on Saturday at Colorado State (19-10, 10-8), which is tied for sixth alongside Boise State and UNLV.